Common assumptions about autonomous vehicles are that they will put an end to accidents and, ultimately, put the car insurance industry out of business. However, a recent report from Automotive Newsindicates a very different trend in the world of vehicle intelligence.

Look closely and you'll see a radar tacked onto the front of the Kia Cadenza's grille.

With more extensive airbag systems along with arrays of high-tech sensors to power features such as lane keeping assistance and automatic emergency braking, safer vehicles can actually be more expensive to repair when they do get into accidents because of the high costs associated with those components.

As a result, these vehicles are at a higher risk of being declared a total loss after being involved in an accident, according to the Auto News report. This could become particularly troublesome for Toyota, which is striving to make driver assistance suites a standard feature throughout its lineup.

Once part of a $3,750 technology package in the 2017 Toyota Camry, blind spot monitoring will be part of a standard set of advanced safety features offered on the all-new 2018 Camry.

(Kyle Campbell)

These features have proven to make vehicles safer and, in the case of driver assistance systems, less likely to be involved in an accident. However, the number of people on the road and the total number of miles driven are on the rise in the U.S. as the economy continues to pick up steam; more driving means more accidents, even for cars designed to avoid them.

If the cost of repairing vehicles with advanced safety systems continues to outpace that of other vehicles, it begs the question: will companies charge higher premiums for insuring these vehicles or will the reduced risk of being involved in a crash be enough to offset the cost? Only time will tell.